Twisted
by BlueSkysailor
Summary: After being brutally abused in a guardian's home, Dax wakes up in Konoha. Treated as an outcast by the villagers, and now targeted by Akatsuki for reasons no one can explain to her, Dax lives a new insane life. SasuNaru, Ita/OC eventually
1. Chapter 1

Whenever I actually post this.. I'm quite aware that I'm juggling several full stories. :)  
>BUT! I quite enjoy writing multiple stories at once, for reading one inspires ideas in another, in my opinion (and experience).<p>

I've had this written for a little while actually, and am still debating on whether I should follow through on writing it completely. This first chapter is just an experimental chapter, for now. Review and let me know whether it should go on!

Carrying on! :D

Warnings: Rape (most likely just this chapter), angst, lots of other things... you shouldn't expect any less in an M-rated fic. You've been (extra) warned!

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><p>"We must all fear evil men... but there is another kind of evil that we should fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."<p>

-Priest, _Boondock Saints_

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><p>I opened my eyes hesitantly; it was Saturday... always a day I should fear most in this house. It was never quiet, nor was it safe... at least for me. I pulled my blanket partially off my head, and sighed in slight relief that my bedroom light was still off, and it was still pitch-black in my basement room, meaning no one was attempting to wake me up, and there would be little reason to be upset with me this early.<p>

All of a sudden the light clicked on and my younger brother yelled down, "Dax! Time to get up!"

'_I'm already awake...,_' I wanted to call, but I kept my mouth shut and got out of my bed , wincing at the loud creaking of my poor conditioned mattress. Already shivering at the loss of warmth, I pulled my red cloud-patterned sleeved-blanket around me tightly and tiptoed up the stairs. I snuck through the large kitchen into the edge of the living room, where I knew my guardian would be sitting, waiting for me to walk in.

"Oh, look who's finally awake," he sneered. I shuddered, and already knew I'd have to tiptoe on eggshells today. I hadn't bothered to bring my phone up with me, knowing that he'd merely take it if he saw it; the pristine-condition iPhone was my only prized possession, and it was strictly kept in my room since that was the only place my guardian, Shiro, didn't bother to go. I only had the phone because it was a present from my best friend, Ryo; he gave it to me so I'd have a way to get a hold of him if something bad happened and he could come get me. He even paid the bill. As humble as I was, I absolutely hated someone else taking pity on me; Ryo knew this, but insisted on letting him or he'd move into my room.

I sniffed as I edged closer to Shiro, and almost gagged at the smell of alcohol already pouring from his skin and clothes. Shiro was a heavy alcoholic, and into almost every recreational drug known to the scene. The only thing he wouldn't touch was tobacco, since apparently his dad had perished to lung cancer from smoking almost constantly. He noticed my delay in movement, and barked, "Hurry the fuck up! Take this empty bottle and get another one."

I nodded silently, and asked, "Do you want this same one, or a different kind?"

Unexpectedly, an open hand collided with the side of my face. He normally got pissed if I _didn't_ ensure what he wanted...

Trying to ignore my streaming eyes, I strained to hear him, "Why would I ask to get another one and hand you a bottle if I wanted something different, huh?"

"I-I don't know...," I said shakily. I took the bottle from his outstretched hand and hurried into the kitchen, sparing a glance at my brother, who was watching down the hall with an almost amused look on his face. He seemed to enjoy when our guardian put me through hell, since he always treated Kenta like something he prayed and begged for. Shiro always harshly reminded us that he only asked for Kenta, but couldn't have him unless he took me too, which he only agreed to for the increased amount of money from the government for taking care of a ward of the state.

I clutched my blanket to me more firmly and shuffled through the large fridge, which was stocked with practically only his alcohol. I grabbed the bottle, not paying attention to what it actually was that I'd grabbed and he was drinking, and rushed back before he complained about me moving too slow. I handed him the full bottle, and he didn't hesitate to wrench it open and take a giant drink. He eyed me with a sadistic look on his face and pulled me over. I knew what was coming, and tried not to whine, but when it escaped anyways, he grabbed my hair coarsely, yanked my head back, and forced my mouth open in the process; before I could yank away and run, he poured a bunch of the liquid down my throat and shoved me away. The liquid, which I could now identify as tequila, burned all the way down. I started coughing violently and backed away from him and his throne of evil.

When I saw that he didn't need anything else and would most likely down the entire bottle before passing out drunk, I stole down the stairs back to my bedroom, almost not making it down the stairs in one piece. I had a very low tolerance to alcohol, and having it shoved down my throat without my consent made it worse. I sat on my bed, grabbed my stuffed fox, and curled up in a vertical fetal position by my wall, on the side of my bed.

I waited about a half hour, and listened for anything upstairs. Hearing nothing, I relaxed and lied back, pulling my blanket out from around me and onto my front instead. I jumped when I heard creaking coming down the stairs; it was too loud and heavy to be Kenta... and there was only one other person in the house. I shrank back in fear, hoping that since my room was still dark Shiro wouldn't notice I was actually in here and not hiding in the basement somewhere.

However, fate seemed to be frowning on me today, as Shiro pulled my folding door open and stepped inside, obviously heavily drunk. He laughed darkly as he looked at my bed, as if sensing me there hiding in the back corner. I realized with a start that a small but significant amount of light was pouring in from the ceiling unit outside my room, and that he actually could see me. I started hyperventilating; he only went after me when he was drunk for one thing...

"We're just gonna have some fun, Dax... I hope you're ready," Shiro slurred, the alcohol heavy in his voice.

I gulped; I was never ready, and didn't even want anything involving his idea of _fun_.. but I knew if I said anything, even going along with his game, it wouldn't end well. Not that it did anyways. I cringed as he reached for the waistline of my pants, and started counting down the minutes until he staggered back up the stairs and passed out on the living room floor.

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><p>I woke up from my delirium and realized I was still covered in cum, blood and a disgusting amount of foreign sweat. I began crying; as much as he'd always mess around and molest me, Shiro had never... <em>raped<em> me... Not even wanting to move, I pulled my blanket back on and passed back out.

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><p><em>Voices... There were voices everywhere... I could hear them near me... I couldn't see them; I wasn't awake, conscious... I needed to be where those voices were...<em>

_ "_Voices...," I hadn't realized I had spoken aloud. A white-blonde woman was sitting in a chair near the bed I was lying in. The room I was in appeared to be a hospital room of sorts, but everything seemed so old-fashioned.

"Well. Looks like our little unidentifiable nin is awake," the woman said, stern and gentle at the same time.

"W-where am I?" I asked hesitantly, feeling like I knew this place, and that woman, but no matter how hard I tried the knowledge wouldn't come to me.

"You're in Konohagakure, the hidden leaf village. Our Anbu found you in the forest unconscious nearly a day ago, wrapped in what appeared to be an Akatsuki cloak. I convinced them not to lock you up, but I can only keep you here if you can provide a viable explanation for _this_," she said, holding up a black sleeved-blanked patterned in red flower-like clouds.

"It must've been from someone else... cause I don't remember ever seeing it," I said honestly. The blanket looked vaguely familiar, but there was something wrong with my head.

"We also found this nearby, and I assume it's yours?" she smiled, and held a medium-sized stuffed red fox out to me. I didn't completely recognize it, but warm feelings sprouted in my stomach at the sight of it.

When I took it from the woman, a name fell from my lips, but I wasn't sure what it was or where it came from, "Kyuubi..."

The woman looked sharply at me, and said, "Pardon?"

"Kyuubi. His name is Kyuubi... I think...," I murmured.

The woman's look softened, and she said, "You think? Do you remember anything that happened to you? Our medic nins found evidence on your body that you were raped, and very recently. Do you recall anything, anything at all?"

_That_ I could remember, easily. All of my life before I showed up here came to me quickly, but the two items she presented to me and everything about this place shook me blank.

"Y-yes...," I squeaked, and slid down further under the blanket.

"You don't need to be scared, child. We just need to know what happened so we can take care of you," the woman said gently.

"Who... who are you?" I asked quietly. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I'm Tsunade, and I'm the hokage of this village. I'm being nice to you cause as far as I know you haven't done anything wrong, and I have no reason not to treat you like any other citizen of Konoha," Tsunade said with a small laugh.

I gave her a weak smile, but then frowned when I realized that I had to reveal everything to get the proper healing.

"Displeasing memories, child?" Tsunade asked softly.

"Scarring memories... and I'm not a child," I argued. "I'm 18 now."

"18... but you seem so, well, small," Tsunade said questioningly.

"I was... in an abusive home, far away from here. My guardian abused me heavily, and he...," I swallowed, "_raped_ me, last night... he's been sexually abusing me for a long time, but he's never..." I couldn't make out the word 'rape' again.

Tsunade looked at me compassionately, and said, "Well, don't worry hun. He can't get you here. Do you know where your parents are?"

I looked at my lap, and said, "Dead."

Tsunade gave me a shocked look, and said, "Do you have any other relatives?"

I shrugged, and said, "My parents died when I was eight. I've always stayed with the same guardian after a year in an orphanage since then."

"Well how did you get here?" Tsunade asked.

"I... don't know. I've never seen this place. All I know is that I fell asleep, in my bed, after he... raped me, and woke up in this room," I said slowly.

"What village do you belong to?" Tsunade rubbed the bottom of her chin with her hand, watching me.

"Village?" I thought for a second. "I didn't live in a village. I lived in a city, on another continent. Although I'm starting to think it was another world...," I said.

"Another world?" Tsunade said, ceasing all movement. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to have one of our nins inspect your mind to find out a little about this place, see it maybe so that you won't have to go through more questioning."

Another person, a man, walked in as she was speaking, and looked up at her quickly, alarmed.

"I hope you don't mean Ibiki, Hokage-sama," the man said, running a hand through his spiked gray hair. One of his eyes was covered by a headband, with a strange symbol on the front of it.

Tsunade grimaced, "He's going to be gentle with her or I'll have his skin hung in my office. Without him in it."

The gray-haired man laughed, and said, "Well I'm sure he'll take your threats seriously. Even Orochimaru would take those seriously, wherever he is."

Tsunade smiled slightly, and said, "It's a good thing you showed up when you did, Kakashi. This is..." Tsunade frowned, realizing she'd never asked my name. "Who are you exactly?"

"My name's Dax...," I said shyly.

"Any last name to go with that?" Kakashi asked, leaning forward.

I shook my head. "After my guardian took me in he left out my last name everywhere. I don't even know his last name."

Kakashi shook his head, and turned to Tsunade. "Worse than we thought?" he asked.

Tsunade nodded, and said, "Unfortunately. Dax, this is Hatake Kakashi. You'll be staying with him if you have nowhere else to go, and he will be taking care of you."

Kakashi sighed, and said, "So I suppose this is why you asked me to ensure that I had room in my quarters for more than just me this morning, correct?"

Tsunade nodded with a smile, and stood up from the chair she'd sat on right before Kakashi had walked in. "You don't need to be in here anymore if you feel ready to leave. Our medic nins didn't find anything unusual, no injuries, internal or external."

"Okay," I said, and continued to sit there. "I, um... don't have any clothes other than what I was found in."

"Well, simple fix. We'll have one of our nins find you something in the market," Tsunade grinned, and leaned out of the door into the hall, and called, "Naruto!"

A golden-haired blond came running into the room, nearly pushing Tsunade back in his excitement.

"Yeah Tsunade baa-chan, what is it?" he said, grinning widely. He had odd whisker-like lines on his cheeks, and his canines were longer than the norm.

"Naruto, we need you to find clothes for Dax here," Tsunade said gruffly, but affectionately at the same time.

"Who?" the blond boy, Naruto, said dumbly.

"Me," I said quietly. "I'm Dax."

"Oh," Naruto said before breaking out in another huge smile. "Nice to meet ya! I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Nice to meet you, Naruto," I murmured.

"She's kinda quiet," Naruto pointed out, getting a smack in the back of the head by Tsunade.

"Be nice," Tsunade reprimanded as Naruto held his head and whined.

"I was just saying...," Naruto pouted.

"Naruto...," Tsunade said warningly.

"Okay, okay!" Naruto held his hands up in surrender. "Clothes, clothes, what am I getting?"

"Any color preferences?" Tsunade asked me.

"Orange, black," I said reflexively. "No dresses or skirts."

"Well that simplifies things!" Naruto cried happily. "I'll just shop for a female version of me!"

Tsunade opened her mouth, but Kakashi interrupted, "That would be fine Naruto. Try to find ninja wear as well, I have a feeling she's going to need it."

"Okay!" Naruto said loudly before hastily exiting the room.

"Wow," I said simply.

"That's Naruto," Tsunade agreed.

"He's reliable, don't worry," Kakashi assured me. "He'll probably be back in just a couple minutes. He's becoming the latest incarnation of Konoha's Yellow Flash."

Tsunade nodded quietly in agreement, and helped me stand up. I walked unsteadily to the foot of the bed, still holding Kyuubi, and pointed to the blanket from earlier.

"Am I going to be able to keep that?" I asked, unsure if there was something wrong with it. "I'm not sure why, but I feel like I have a strong attachment to it."

Tsunade gave me a concerned look, glanced to Kakashi, who shrugged, and said, "Only if you can keep it in your room, preferably on your bed, so it doesn't cause any panic. Don't take it outside where anyone else can see it."

"Why not?" I asked innocently.

"It has the image of the Akatsuki wear," Kakashi explained.

"The what?" I asked, even more confused.

"The Akatsuki are a group of missing nin that abandoned their villages to commit heinous crimes, murder being the most common among them. Most of them also use forbidden Jutsu," Tsunade covered for Kakashi. "Jutsu is a ninja art, a way of tapping into a nin's chakra to use for healing, attacking or defending."

"Can you do that?" I asked in amazement.

"Everyone can do it to some degree. Some are better with physical assault, some are much more efficient with their chakra, and can control it magnificently," Tsunade said.

"How do you learn how to tap into your chakra?" I said, enthralled.

"We'll have a professional show you. Kakashi most likely," Tsunade said with a pleased smile.

"Although it is a little late in life for uncovering your ninja abilities," Kakashi said with a shrug. "This just means that you'll catch on faster though."

I was unsure as to whether I should have been insulted or happy at the compliment, so I went with a small smile and looked out of the window near the bed. There was an odd complex not too far away, and there was a giant courtyard right outside and down a couple stories.

"You say you came from another world," Tsunade said as she walked to my side. "How exactly did you come to be here?"

"I really don't know... I was asleep in my bed, in severe pain, and then woke up here," I said, scratching my head in thought.

"Maybe her chakra brought her here? She may have been in mortal danger and it took her as far away as possible, to the point where the danger had no feasible way of getting to her," Kakashi offered, joining Tsunade.

"But... I don't have chakra," I said, confused.

Kakashi laughed, his visible eye scrunched in amusement, "Everyone has chakra, Dax. Just not everyone is capable of accessing it."

I looked back out of the window and said, "Even me? Will I be able to access my chakra?"

"Well with how much of a chakra store I can detect on you, I would be very disappointed if you couldn't. That would be a waste of such a large amount of chakra," Kakashi joked, ruffling my hair. "That could be why your hair is so light on top, and darker on the bottom. We call that 'chakra bleaching'. That's why Naruto and Tsunade are both blonde. And you, just in a weird way."

My hair was a softer version of Naruto's; less yellow, closer to white. The last inch and a half at the tips was a dark red colour, giving the impression that my hair had been dragged through a puddle of blood. I picked up a section by the end and stared at it with a small pout.

"That might explain your eyes a little too!" Kakashi continued, ignoring my actions. "Chakra is the most common cause of iris spotting. Although, I've never seen red spotting before... they kinda stick out on your hazel eyes too... hm."

Kakashi tapped his chin, staring at my eyes. He seemed to reach a mental conclusion, and then grabbed my wrist and dragged me towards the exit, and over to an open door near there. I looked inside and realized it was a bathroom.

"Go and wash your hair, Naruto will be back in a few minutes," Kakashi instructed, shoved me in the bathroom, and slammed the door closed behind me.

I pulled the curtains away from the shower on one side, and saw, with joy, that the soap inside was strawberry scented, like most of the stuff I normally used. 'They must've smelled it on me earlier and put it in here to help me acclimate,' I thought before stripping and climbing shakily into the shower. I washed up quickly, remembering that Naruto would be back with clothes.

Just as I put on a fresh odd version of a hospital gown and sat on the toilet to towel my hair dry, the door opened without warning and Naruto bounded in joyously.

"Yay, you're done!" he sang. "I hope you like what I picked out, Dax-chan! In fact, I _know_ you will!" He grinned largely, which was quickly becoming his trademark with me, and shoved a stuffed messenger bag into my arms.

I gaped at it; the thing was _huge_!

"H-how much did you buy?" I asked nervously; I didn't have any money to pay anyone back... If this place was as different as I thought it was, they surely didn't use Japanese currency, and I didn't even have any of _that._

"Not too much, I have a lot saved up!" Naruto said, flashing another smile at me.

"But... I don't have any money, I won't be able to pay you back," I said with a frown, "Or at least not anytime soon..."

Naruto flicked a wrist, and said, "Psh, don't even worry about that. You're new here! I can imagine you're scared as hell, not to mention confused. Everyone will probably be suspicious and scared of you for a while since you have no recognizable family anywhere, and no one's ever heard of you, and that's why I want to help! I want to make sure no one else has to go through what I had to."

"What... you had to?" I inquired, and tilted my head in curiosity.

"Oh well, I guess you wouldn't know," Naruto said, his smile dimming. He shrugged, and added, "I'll explain to you soon. Just not today. I want to keep a normal friend for a while first."

"Normal friend?" I was getting even more lost. Nothing made sense with what he was saying!

"Nothing, nothing," Naruto threw out quickly, "Just, you're nicer than everyone else, and you don't know anything about the village yet so I'll get to teach you!"

I laughed slightly; Naruto was just hyper. I was vaguely reminded of Ryo, and then sadness washed over me. I dropped my hands into my lap and stared at them; I would probably never see Ryo again. And he'd done so much for me; he was my best, and almost only, friend.

"You okay?" Naruto asked, no longer smiling at all. "You look like someone shot your fox."

"Someone shot Kyuubi?" I asked, panicked. Since I never really talked to anyone, I didn't get the concept of a figure of speech. I did, however, firmly grasp sarcasm, and was very fluent in it. Naruto gave me a wide-eyed look, and appeared almost horrified.

I darted out of the bathroom around him, and saw Kyuubi just sitting on the bed where I left him. I pouted again, picked him up, and carried him into the bathroom.

"What are you talking about Naruto? No one shot Kyuubi," I complained, and gave him an exasperated look.

He gave me a mysterious look, and shook his head. He looked at Kyuubi, and brightened.

"He's so adorable!" he squealed and gave the most fake smile I'd ever seen on a person's face, and I'd seen quite a few.

I frowned, and said, "What's wrong? I didn't do anything did I?"

When he hesitated, my eyes filled with tears; I must have done something to make him act like that... Without another word, I dropped Kyuubi and ran out and down the hall, not paying attention to where I was going. I heard Naruto and Kakashi call my name as I ran, but I kept going, until I ran into someone and fell backwards.

I looked up fearfully and saw a guy with crazy brown hair, and odd red marks on his face. He looked down at me with mild curiosity, and then noticed what had happened. He gasped, and said hurriedly, "Fuck! Sorry! I didn't even notice I was so spaced. Are you okay?"

I gave him a strange look at the choice of words, and then tried to stand up, only to fall back down; my legs felt really weak. He pulled me up by my hands, and I muttered, "Thanks..."

"So? Are you alright? And who are you?" he asked unabashedly.

"I'm fine, I guess," I sighed. "My name's Dax."

"Okay," he said, and grinned impishly. I realized that he, like Naruto, had longer and sharper canines, his being longer and more beastly than Naruto's. "Name's Kiba Inuzuka. Nice to have you here in Konoha, Dax."

"Um, thanks," I said nervously. I jumped and hid behind Kiba when Naruto jogged up to us, and doubled over with his hands on his knees, panting. I noticed Kyuubi dangling from one of his fists.

"Scaring the newbie with your... odd stuffed animal fetish, Naruto?" Kiba asked, an eyebrow raised, eying the stuffed fox.

"What? No!" Naruto said, and shook his head vigorously. He looked me in the eye. "Dax, I'm not mad at you; you didn't do anything. I was just in shock is all."

I didn't say anything, and that appeared to make him sad.

"You left Kyuubi behind. You made him sad," Naruto persisted, although it felt as though he was using Kyuu to express his own feelings.

I looked down guiltily and crept around Kiba to stand in front of Naruto. He whipped the hand holding Kyuubi up and shoved him gently into my chest, a small smile lighting up his face. This one was genuine, in contrast to the couple earlier. I could tell he was sad still, so I smiled back and hugged Kyuubi to me.

My stomach dropped and I started shaking when Naruto pulled me into a hug, which he unfortunately noticed.

"Dax? Are you okay? I swear I'm not mad... I promise!" Naruto said in a flurry. "You just... surprised me, is all."

"Surprised why, Naruto? She find out you're into bestiality?" Kiba guffawed.

Naruto gave him a dirty look over my shoulder, and grunted, "I thought that was you, Kiba. Is that why you left Akamaru at home?"

Kiba started growling and I pushed Naruto away as I began walking down the hall back to the room, and I quickly realized I had no idea where I was going. I looked up at Naruto through my hair hanging in my face, and he laughed.

"I'll get you back there, no worries," he said flippantly.

"Who's Akamaru?" I asked absently.

"Kiba's ninja dog," Naruto said simply, and turned into a room on our right.

Kakashi was pacing at the window, and stopped and looked up when we walked in. Tsunade was nowhere to be seen.

"Where were you two? Naruto, what did you do this time?" Kakashi asked boredly.

"Hey, I didn't do anything. Just a misunderstanding is all," Naruto replied, "Where'd the old bat go?"

"She's going to kill you when she hears you calling her that again," Kakashi scolded, "And she went to tend to other patients. Dax is stable, so she won't need Tsunade to keep an eye on her in here for now."

I wandered into the bathroom to let them talk, and looked into the bag to see what Naruto got. I decided to stick with the first shirt and pants, and obviously undergarments, that I pulled out: a pair of orange form-fitting jeans (which I was surprised they had) and a black shirt with an orange fox-head outline. I looked around for shoes but didn't see any. After I changed into the clothes, I vacated the bathroom, the clothes bag in hand.

Naruto looked up at me and cried, "They fit!"

Kakashi followed Naruto's path of vision and his eyes widened.

"Naruto, when I said shopping for a female version of you was a good idea, I didn't think you'd take it that far..," Kakashi groaned, and shook his head.

Naruto laughed nervously, "Well she said orange and black, and I saw the stuffed fox earlier and I figured she'd like it too."

"I do!" I interjected. "I only saw this cause it was right on top, but I can imagine everything else is cool too."

Naruto beamed happily, and proceeded to start grabbing my lack-of-belongings, and putting them in a canvas bag he most likely brought with him. He randomly snatched pillows and a towel off the bed, and froze when he got to the blanket that I was covered with when they found me.

"Where... did you get this?" Naruto asked darkly.

Kakashi coughed, and said, "Dax was covered with it when the Anbu found her. She claims to have no recollection of it though, and it doesn't seem to be a real cloak from what we know of the Akatsuki uniforms."

"Are you sure?" Naruto spat. It seemed foreign coming from him.

"Yes, Naruto, we're sure. She feels some sort of attachment to it apparently, and doesn't want to get rid of it," Kakashi sighed in annoyance.

"Okay," Naruto said, taking a breath. "You sure you don't know where it came from Dax?"

"No, I'm not completely positive even though I don't ever remember seeing the thing," I said sarcastically; I was getting annoyed with the same questions over and over.

"You remind me of Sasuke," Naruto said wistfully. "Smart ass."

"Hm," I said, not knowing who Sasuke was, but again feeling a glimmer of recognition.

Naruto laughed loudly, and said in between breaths, "Yep, exactly like Sasuke."

Naruto almost instantly stopped laughing and smiled sadly, as if remembering something.

"Indeed," Kakashi said, eying me in amusement. After Naruto left ahead of us to go to Kakashi's place, he stopped me and whispered, "When you're with Naruto, try to avoid the topics of the Akatsuki, Sasuke, and missing nin."

"Why? What happened?"

"I'll only tell you a little for now, it's gotten to be a very long story," Kakashi said, and started walking slowly towards where Naruto was rushing off. "Sasuke was Naruto's first, albeit odd, friend. They had a complicated relationship, using each other to get ahead and make themselves strong, and played it off as a rivalry. I personally think one got sick of being protected by the other and pushed themselves, but... We'll probably never know. During a special exam, Sasuke and Naruto, along with their other team member Sakura Haruno, were attacked by a missing nin not associated with Akatsuki named Orochimaru; he's one of the most dangerous criminals known to Konoha... or at least he was. A curse seal was placed on him to draw him to Orochimaru, for power. Eventually he ended up leaving without having to be forced by the seal, and it killed Naruto. His goal was, and still is, to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, but I'm not too sure how Tsunade will take this. Especially since he recently killed one of our council members, regardless of his evil temperament. Sasuke eventually joined Akatsuki, although I'm not too sure he's there completely willingly. Between you and me, I feel that Naruto finds Sasuke as more than just a rival or best friend; and I know for a fact that Sasuke views him the same way."

"How do you know that?" I asked to get more time to take in all the rest of the information.

"Sasuke is an Uchiha; he's part of what used to be a very ancient and powerful family, who had a special ability unique to only their bloodline. It was called the Sharingan. A special level of Sharingan, called the Mangekyou Sharingan, can only be activated upon killing the person most important and precious to the wielder. For Sasuke, it seemed he would be forced to kill Naruto, and told him as such. Apparently he was unable to do so, since Naruto is still here, 10 feet ahead of us. Sasuke ended up activating it anyway somehow, but the fact that he went after Naruto, and not any girl that continually confessed her love and adoration for him. I daresay eventually Naruto will succeed in bringing his stubborn ass back," Kakashi said, finishing his story.

"Wow," I said simply, not having any other words.

Kakashi grunted in response, and pulled me faster to catch up with Naruto. When we got down the stairs at the end of the wooden path, I was shocked to see how big the "village" actually was. There were people everywhere, walking back and forth on a large dirt path. Naruto made sure the blanket was tucked securely inside the bag out of view, and kept walking. I noticed a lot of people giving me strange looks as we walked by, and even saw a few glares and filthy looks from older villagers. 'Feels like I'm back home still,' I though miserably, and saw Naruto give a cold, hard look to all the surrounding villagers, who quickly returned to what they were doing previously.

"You get used to the stares and dirty looks eventually, Dax," Naruto muttered angrily. "No one knows how to mind their own business or give someone a chance."

I glanced at Naruto in mild surprise. "Why would anyone look at you like that?"

"Long story; don't wanna talk about it right now. Wait till later okay? You can come chill at my house once you're settled into Kakashi's," Naruto said, plastering an anticipated look on his face that didn't reach his eyes.

"Sounds like a good idea... I think," I said, unsure, and looked to Kakashi and received a small head nod.

"You think?" Naruto said, full of curiosity. "You know, you don't seem very sure of anything. What kind of life did you have before this Dax?"

I gave him a half smile, and said, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours first."

He nodded, and said, "Works for me. Seems like everyone has a sob story these days."*

"Apparently," Kakashi said blankly.

We all came to a stop in front of a plain wooden door, connected to a small white house, which looked almost like a Japanese-style dojo from the outside. I was amazed by how almost normal the inside looked, with the exception of a television, or anything decently modern where I was previously living. I felt nostalgic as I thought about the iPhone sitting on my bed back in my previous guardian's house. He'd probably gone through it to see where his love-slave and housekeeper had gone. Not that he'd get far; every part of it was locked with a different password. Although... Ryo had probably come looking for me in the amount of time that I'd appeared here. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach, and knew that Naruto saw it, but didn't care.

I walked with a melancholy face into the establishment and stood in the middle of the front room, not sure where to go or what to do. I glanced at Kakashi for help, and he said, "I'll show you where you'll be staying. With how much attention the window got at the hospital, it's a good thing I gave you the room that I did. Come on."

He took us up a small flight of stairs and stopped at a plain black door. He opened it, handed me a key, and said, "This is your room for as long as you want it. Keep the key on you at all times; it has my chakra signature on it, so that my ninja dogs can help you if you get lost or if I need to find you. Also, the house is never unlocked when I'm not here, so you'll need it anyways. Well... I'll just let you unpack then."

Kakashi walked away awkwardly and Naruto stood with me as I stared at the inside of the room. Everything was painted a mellow dark blue colour, and I already felt relaxed standing in the doorway. Naruto cleared his throat and took my bag as he made his entrance into the room. He threw the bag lightly onto the bed, which had black blankets and pillows.

"So? Do you want to actually unpack? Looks like Kakashi-sensei had everything set up for you in here. Not surprising; he always seems to be prepared for everything, even getting his ass handed to him," Naruto joked. He gestured to the dresser and continued, "I could unpack your clothes if you want, and you can just get acquainted with the room. You'll be the one sleeping in it after all."

"Sure," I softly answered, and wandered over to a door that appeared to be a closet of sorts. I opened it, and was shocked to see that it lead to another bedroom, one that seemed to already be occupied by someone, someone that currently wasn't in it. I looked over at Naruto and asked, "Whose room do you think this is?"

"Probably Kakashi-sensei's. No one else lives here, as far as I know," Naruto responded with a small shrug. "Unless he's been shacking up with someone, but I don't think Kakashi-sensei would do that."

"Why's it connected to my room?" I wondered aloud.

"Just in case something happens and I need to get to you right away," a voice said from the doorway. My eyes flashed to the doorway where Kakashi was standing, watching Naruto and me.

"Oh," I said meekly.

"You're in a ninja village now, Dax. Anything could happen," Kakashi said, answering my unspoken question.

"Yeah," I said noncommittally, focused more on the thoughts running through my mind. If I lived in this ninja village and trained like everyone already appeared to expect me to, I could become strong... and maybe repay everyone for what they'd done for me so far. I'd be able to protect myself instead of letting everyone fight my battles for me. I could have the honor of training myself to a pristine condition. I decided then and there that I was going to devote myself to this cause, no matter what happened to me; I finally felt a glimmer of hope and happiness.

"You look thoughtful," Kakashi observed.

"I am, actually. I just came to a stunning conclusion," I said with a small grin. Naruto brightened at the look and excitedly rushed over.

"What is it? It's gotta be a good one with how happy you look right now!" Naruto pleaded.

"It is, for once. I actually feel at home where I'm at right now, and I've only been awake for a couple hours. I decided that I want to train hard and be a ninja; I want to be able to fight and protect the people that are helping me, a total stranger, right now. And I don't want to have to rely on everyone else to protect me anymore," I said openly. Naruto's smile became melancholy, and he started leaning in before stopping and setting a hand on my shoulder awkwardly. Sensing what he wanted, I hugged him, and tried not to feel anxious at the contact.

"Just be careful," Naruto whispered. "And don't ever worry. I'm going to help you while you learn from Kakashi, and even when you can defend yourself completely I'll still be there to protect you from everything else."

Kakashi watched the exchange with an unreadable look on his face, the reason more than just the mask covering his lower face. He 'hm'ed before moving forward and setting a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I'm going to hold you to that Naruto. I have a bad feeling about her with our little village of Konoha," Kakashi said ominously.

"Little?" I echoed doubtfully. "I've never seen a village, but Konoha is definitely _not_ little."

Naruto laughed and said, "You should see the Land of Waves. Their main village, where the bridge is, is huge!"

"Huge to you guys? Then it must be truly monstrous," I lamented.

"It is! But to be honest, we're really not that big, since we're just a hidden village," Naruto said.

"A what?" I asked dumbly.

"A hidden village, which is another name for a ninja village."

"You mean not all the villages have ninja?"

"Nope! Most villages don't want to cause conflict or be involved in any, so they go to hidden villages to pay for the use of their ninja."

"Are there a lot of hidden villages?" I asked and sat on my bed.

Naruto joined me, with Kakashi still watching and listening at the door.

"Not really. There are only a few; there are Konohagakure, the hidden leaf village, Amegakure, the hidden rain village, Iwagakure, the hidden stone village, Kirigakure, the hidden mist village, and Sunagakure, the hidden sand village. There are plenty of smaller hidden villages, but they basically use their ninja only to protect their own villages. These five are the main hidden villages, and sort of rent their ninjas out," Naruto explained.

"Okay," I nodded, taking all the names in and trying to commit them to memory.

"But that's enough of a geography lesson for one day! You'll learn all this from Kakashi-sensei anyways," Naruto said with a wave of his hand. "You should come over so you know where my place is now!"

With that, Naruto jumped up, grabbed my hand, and hurried outside. Kakashi made no effort to stop us, so I went along with it and tried to keep up with Naruto and avoid being dragged the entire way.

He stopped at a flight of stairs and took us up three floors before stopping at a door with the numbers 109 on it. Naruto opened the door and beckoned for me to go in ahead of him. I walked through the doorway and froze; all the lights were still off, and I could tell Naruto was standing behind me. I jumped when he whipped the door closed and scurried across the room, most likely to find a light.

"Please, no... I'm sorry," I whispered, unable to help myself. I huddled on the ground and squeezed my eyes shut. I let a small yelp escape when a someone touched my arm.

I opened my eyes and realized the lights were on and Naruto was watching me with a concerned look.

"What's wrong Dax-chan?" he asked worriedly.

"N-nothing...," I stuttered.

He gave me another look before saying, "I'll show you mine, but then you have to show me yours," mimicking what I had said to him earlier.

I nodded shakily, and he led me over to a kitchen table, where there was only one chair.

He rubbed the back of his head, and offered, "Well, either you could sit on my lap or one of us could just sit on the table, which probably isn't a good idea; I never clean that thing cause I'm never home."

I considered sitting on the dirty table to avoid too much contact with Naruto, but then thought of all the germs living on it. 'Probably more than what could possibly be on Naruto...,' I said mentally, and looked at Naruto; he looked clean enough.

"I guess I'll just sit on your lap," I said hesitantly, and looked at the table suspiciously. "I'm a little scared of what could be living on that table."

"Trust me, I know how you feel. Living room furniture would be nice too," Naruto laughed nervously.

"Why don't you have any?" I asked. I knew I had brushed a touchy subject at Naruto's lack of a reaction or answer. "Anyway, like you mentioned; I'll show you mine if you show me yours first. Your turn Naruto."

Naruto sat down, and pulled me down with him. I looked at him quizzically and he said, "You're gonna want to sit down anyways. Might as well do it now."

"Oh."

"Okay... well. I was born on the night a demon fox attacked Konoha. It was known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine-tailed demon fox. My parents connection to it was complicated; my mother was the previous container to Kyuubi, and the seal holding him in weakened when she gave birth to me. My father was the hokage of the village at the time, and went off to fight off the demon while my mom was still recovering. To save the village, my mother joined my father, and he sealed the demon fox inside of me, when I was a newborn. As I grew up, everyone hated me instead of revering me as a hero as my parents had hoped. I never understood why until I was 11 or 12, when someone leaked the truth. Apparently no one was supposed to speak of it with me. Kyuubi shares his chakra with me to keep both of us alive, and heals me whenever a wound is severe enough to need it. I grew up with no friends because of that night, and I often had to watch everyone else interact with their parents on significant days. Then I finally passed the graduation exam and got my ninja headband, and got placed into a genin team. That's where I actually met Sasuke Uchiha, after knowing of him from the ninja academy, and Sakura Haruno, who I had an intense crush on already. Sasuke and I became odd friends; usually competing over something. Sakura... I didn't think I would ever stand a chance with her, but I still tried. She was in love with Sasuke; I remember one day before we were assigned to our teams I got up in his face cause I didn't know the prick, but everyone loved him. I wanted to see what was so great, so I jumped up on the desk in front of him and literally got in his face. Of course, he glared right back, until the kid sitting in front of Sasuke and behind me at the time put his elbow back on the desk to turn around and tell us something, and knocked me forward... and onto Sasuke's mouth," Naruto paused, and started turning faintly pink.

"That's very... anticlimactic," I admitted, laughing inside.

"Yeah, all his fangirls hated me for 'stealing Sasuke's first kiss' and proceeded to kick the shit out of me. At first I was upset that I was stuck on the same team as him, but... now, I just wish he was here; I know now that he's the most important person to me, and I don't know what I'd have done if he hadn't pushed me," Naruto said sorrowfully.

"Where is Sasuke?" I asked gently.

"He abandoned the village a couple of years ago. He... something happened to him, and he left to find power. And to get relief. But now, just like then, he's only after vengeance, and nothing I say ever gets through to him, and it kills me," Naruto continued, his eyes shining.

"Vengeance?"

"Sasuke's family, the Uchihas, were all destroyed by Sasuke's older brother, Itachi Uchiha. He killed everyone but Sasuke, and Sasuke swore vengeance, to kill him," Naruto explained. The name Itachi sent shivers down my spine for some reason, but I ignored it as Naruto continued with his next story. "I'm pretty sure Sasuke and I are the only ones that know the truth though, thanks to some Akatsuki guy."

"The truth?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes. Turns out, the council of Konoha, lead by Danzou, who was killed by Sasuke not too long ago, forced Itachi to kill all of his family, because they were supposedly plotting against the village. No one knows if it's true, except for Itachi. And there really isn't any way to ask him. Ever since he found that out, Sasuke joined the Akatsuki, where Itachi is right now, and changed his plans of vengeance to destroy the people that forced Itachi's hand."

"But... he lived here all his life didn't he? You said Sakura was in love with him, so he couldn't have had it all bad, could he?"

"He still had to live with the image of his dead family in his mind, and the lack of a family everyone else had, just like me," Naruto said almost coldly.

Naruto fell quiet, and I waited a minute for him to start speaking again.

"After Sasuke left, I tried with a team to get him back, only to end up fighting him. He almost killed me, but stopped and told me to get stronger so I could compete with him. I found out from him and Kakashi that he was going to kill me to activate his Sharingan on a whole new level, but just couldn't do it and played it off as not caring. Sasuke still hasn't come back, with how many times I've had to fight him and plead. But after that first battle, I knew I had to get stronger and force him to see reason; so I went and trained for a little less than a year with a legendary ninja named Jiraiya."

Naruto's face fell at mentioning Jiraiya, but he quickly recovered, "Jiraiya fell in battle, the most honorable way for a ninja to go. But not before he taught me some of the most powerful jutsu I know, even now."

Naruto gazed at my face, gauging my reaction. He grinned widely and said mockingly, "Your turn now, Dax-chan."

I groaned and let my head hit his shoulder.

* * *

><p>* - My sociologist teacher feels the need to say this to us all the time, exactly like that. "Everyone has a sob story these days." I find it amusing, and a little true all the same.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

You guys ready for this? Good!

But first things first... A.: I'm changing to third person now, cause writing in Dax's POV is getting annoying; I just wanted to try it first. Plus, more characters are involved now, so it can't be just hers all the time. B.: Before anyone freaks out, yes, Itachi is still alive; Madara told Sasuke the truth before he killed Itachi, cause he needed Itachi alive. Sasuke told Naruto during their following fight so Naruto would know why Sasuke had to kill him.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would be so happy... T^T But I don't. This applies to the first chapter, as well.

* * *

><p>Dax took a deep breath and looked pleadingly at Naruto. He nodded in acknowledgment for her to start speaking, and smiled sympathetically at her.<p>

"Well...," Dax started and froze, her throat closing and aching.

Naruto laughed quietly before getting up, causing Dax to stand up as well.

"Here, I'll get you a ramen. Kakashi-sensei said you used a lot of Chakra to get here so I can imagine you're starving," Naruto said and took two sealed foam bowls out of a cupboard. He pulled the lids off both of them, set them aside, and filled a pot with water, set it on the stove, and turned it on.

"I don't understand the technology here," Dax observed.

"Huh?" Naruto gave her a confused look, glanced at the stove, and then back at Dax. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you have a stove, and I'm pretty sure I saw a huge television in Kakashi's house," Dax said, "But I haven't seen any weapons or means of transportation or anything... And the village itself seems so..."

"Outdated?" Naruto chuckled. "That's the point. We don't need means of transportation or weapons, cause our ninjas are more efficient than any piece of technology. Our smartest scientists already thought of that, more for the villages that don't have any ninja, but here in Konoha we can access our chakra so we have no use for it."

"Hm," Dax hummed, "I guess you're right."

"Exactly!" Naruto cried, and grinned brightly. "Where you were... was there a lot of technology?"

"Sort of.. I mean, yeah, intense technology. But now that I think about it... I'm starting to wonder if I wasn't just from another country, and not from another world. Especially if everyone has the technological capabilities you were talking about a second ago," Dax thought aloud.

Naruto frowned and asked, "Do you even know where you're from Dax?"

Dax stammered, "I only know that I was in Japan. I don't know what part, or at least I don't remember. My house was a little too sheltered, and I was too into the orphanage system to actually go to any school."

"Really?" Naruto said, looking guiltily at the slowly heating pot on the stove.

"Mhm," Dax pursed her lips, and starting speaking again as Naruto took the now starting-to-bubble pot off the stove and began pouring the hot water into the foam bowls. "I was born into a normal family, my father had a normal job, my mom was a normal housewife, I went to school and got good grades; basically, there was nothing abnormal about us. That is, until I was eight.

"We were sitting in a small restaurant when a gang shooting broke out nearby. The people being shot at hid in the restaurant, and my parents happened to get in the way of the bullets. My brother and I got sent into an orphanage, since we had no other relatives. We were there for a year before someone finally gave in to the orphanage's demands that to get my brother they had to take me too. The guardian's name was Shiro, and for the first few weeks everything was actually pretty good, until he started drinking. Apparently he was a recovering alcoholic, and after one drink he couldn't stop again. He got aggressive, normally only towards me, and frequently abused me if I didn't do things according to his unspoken specifications. The only safe place was my basement bedroom, and even that wasn't safe if he was really drunk; he'd sneak in and ….molest me," Dax gulped, and graciously started eating the soup Naruto put in front of her, mesmerized by the story.

"I could never figure out what exactly I was doing wrong, since he never gave a reason for hitting me or anything else. The few times I actually went to school didn't last long, and Shiro often had to relocate us because of suspicion of child abuse from teachers. That's why I never knew where we were, and eventually he just stopped sending me to school; Kenta was allowed to go to school if he wanted to, and once in a great while he'd show me what they were learning. After I learned basic reading and math, I taught myself, and Kenta started leaving me alone totally.

"I had one real friend, and his name was Ryo. He had to take me to the hospital after bad beatings, among other things, which happened a decent amount of times. The hospital never suspected anything, and after a while they just stopped asking what had happened, since they couldn't do anything unless I told them. The years went on, nothing ever changed or got better," Dax scratched at her right wrist, and Naruto gave her a lost look.

"What other things, Dax-chan?" he asked, growing more worried by the second.

"I...um," Dax muttered the rest, and even Naruto couldn't hear it.

"What?" Naruto asked again.

"I used to cut myself," Dax said louder, and hid her face. She stopped eating the ramen and sat back against the chair that was still vacant.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he gasped, "But... why would you want to do that? What good was it doing anyone?"

"I wasn't trying to die, Naruto. I just... wanted proof that I was real, that I was stuck in some sick dream, and to somehow punish myself for never stopping it, for being weak**. After it stopped being as effective, I just stopped, before I could do any real damage. One day I just snapped, and Ryo had to take me to the hospital again to stitch a few of the cuts closed and clean them before they got infected. That's when the hospital figured out what they were from, and I got stuck in the psychological wing of the hospital, until they could diagnose me and 'fix' me." Dax turned her wrist upward, and pointed to one larger scar. "I ended up being diagnosed with clinical depression, and a severe anxiety disorder. They put me on a few medications, which I stopped taking a couple years after. I don't think I'm as depressed anymore, but I'm pretty sure I'm still anxious about an expansive amount of things."

Naruto was silent, and motioned for her to continue on again.

"The doctor at first labeled me as unstable, and almost refused to treat me, until Ryo told him what was going on, even though I didn't want him to. I was stuck in the hospital for almost two weeks before I could leave again, and not a single time did my guardian or brother visit me to make sure I was okay. After that, I was just passive in the house I was stuck in; even after I was 18, I wasn't allowed to go anywhere until someone married me, such as the rule in my guardian's family. One day, just yesterday or the day before, actually, my guardian was being more touchy than usual, and after downing an entire bottle of foreign alcohol, he..." Dax froze, unable to say the word again.

"He didn't...," Naruto inferred, getting furious. Dax widened her eyes at Naruto's mood and started backing away from the table. Naruto slammed his fists down on the table, which made Dax scream, and growled, "That sick bastard..."

Dax jumped back, knocking over the chair, and shrank against the wall. Naruto slapped himself in the forehead, and walked slowly over to her.

"Dax, I'm sorry for getting angry, but just know that I'm _not angry at you_. None of this was your fault, okay?" Naruto said, walking slowly over to her.

Dax just leaned against the wall, staring fearfully at Naruto. Recognition seemed to light in her eyes, and she nodded suspiciously.

"Nothing bad's gonna happen to you here," Naruto said with a careful smile.

Dax watched him apprehensively before she snuck around him and sat back down. Naruto frowned at her and snuck back to the table in front of her.

"Is that all you're ready to talk about for now?" he asked quietly, and received a small nod. "That's all I need to know. Now come on, there are more people for you to meet!"

"Are they friends?" Dax asked with a timid look on her face.

"Yeah!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "Finish eating so we can go."

"Oh, I'll just eat something else later... We can go now," Dax stood. Naruto gave her an unsure look, but led her out anyways.

"Everyone usually gathers in the training area; it's become like a social standard for us now," Naruto explained as he led her back through town, past Kakashi's house, and into a small arena-like area.

There were a few unfamiliar people talking, and a few more fighting or training in the center. One boy Dax immediately deemed as insane with his garb; almost all green and what appeared to be spandex.

"I assume you just saw Lee," Naruto said with a laugh, seeing the look on Dax's face.

"Uh, I guess?" Dax said in confusion.

"Don't worry, you'll meet them all in a minute," Naruto assured her.

They walked up to the small crowd of people that wasn't training; Dax recognized Kiba among them.

"Guys, this is Dax," Naruto introduced.

"Is this the girl the Anbu found in the woods the other day and Tsunade-sama's been guarding?" one girl with pink hair asked bluntly.

"Yeah, this is her Sakura. Dax, the pinkette is Sakura Haruno," Naruto said with a tight smile.

"The one you were talking about earlier?" Dax asked innocently, but regretted it when she saw Sakura's face darken.

"Uh, yeah actually. That same one!" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. Dax nodded, and he continued, "You already know Kiba."

"Yo," Kiba said with a wave, earning a look from the dark-haired girl next to him; she had unusual eyes that looked almost lavender and had no visible pupil.

"And next to him giving him the crazy eye is Hinata Hyuga; the boy with the long brown hair out in the middle fighting with the green dude is her cousin Neji Hyuga," Naruto rattled on.

Hinata gave Dax a shy smile and said, "I hope you're getting along well so far, Dax-chan?"

"Y-yeah," Dax stammered nervously.

"She seems about as jumpy as you Hinata," a light blonde haired girl remarked.

"And that's Ino Yamanaka," Naruto said with a sigh.

"Don't sound too happy there, Naruto," a boy with brown hair currently in a high ponytail joked. "Hi Dax, I'm Shikamaru Nara."

"Wow, Shikamaru, introducing yourself without any help," Ino laughed.

"Shut up Ino! I'm trying to make a good impression. It's not everyday we get new people in the village," Shikamaru growled, "So troublesome..."

"There's the Shikamaru we all know and love!" Naruto chuckled.

Everyone else began laughing as well, and the two fighting noticed and walked over.

"Oh? Who is this?" the boy with long hair that Naruto called Neji asked politely while eying Dax suspiciously.

'This is Dax!" Naruto said cheerfully. He cringed, as did everyone else, when the green spandex-clad boy began sobbing heavily.

"Um... is he okay?" Dax asked quietly.

"More than okay. Dax, you might want to back off...," Naruto trailed off, trying to pull her by the arm.

"What? Why?" she followed everyone's scared eyes to the boy, who seemed to suddenly burst.

"Why did no one tell me the small child was awake and well?" he cried dramatically. "It's so good to see that you are fine now!"

Dax twitched.

"I'm not a child. I'm 18, I'll have you know," she said irritably.

"18? You seem a little... well, tiny," Sakura said enviously.

"Not my fault...," Dax murmured. Naruto patted her shoulder and gave Sakura a 'shut-the-hell-up-now' look.

Everyone seemed to have temporarily forgotten about Lee's breakdown, until he scooped Dax up and cried nonsense to the sky. Naruto smacked himself in the forehead as he pulled Dax gently from Lee.

"He's... _crazy_," she gasped. "I'll never get over this. I'm scarred for life."

"We've all been there," Naruto said in understanding.

"Everyone?" Dax said, looking around the small group.

"Well, not Neji or Kiba," Naruto laughed, "But that's 'cause they'd kill him if he tried."

"Plus Kiba has rabies from his bestiality bout," Shikamaru muttered. Kiba slapped him in the head and Naruto erupted into laughter.

"So has anyone seen Chouji yet?" Sakura asked, direction the question towards Shikamaru and Ino.

"Not yet. He's been spending a lot of time with his father the last couple of weeks," Ino said with a finger on her chin thoughtfully.

"He's probably training. His family has a lot of secrets they keep, just like any other ninja family in Konoha," Shikamaru guessed.

"Yeah, definitely," Sakura agreed.

"So is she going to start training?" Neji asked unexpectedly. Everyone turned to Dax and Naruto curiously.

"Yep! She'll be with Kakashi, and I'll be helping her too," Naruto grinned.

"Oh dear lord, everyone's gonna die now that there's another mind to be molded like Naruto's...," Sakura groaned, and everyone laughed, with the exception of Naruto and Dax, who only stared in confusion.

"You'll find out someday," Sakura giggled at Dax.

"But to be on the safe side, you should run while you can," Ino chuckled.

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad guys, give me a break, will ya?" Naruto whined.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say tough guy," Sakura laughed.

Naruto growled, and said, "We have to get back to Kakashi's anyways; Dax has to finish unpacking and getting used to her new abode."

"Run Dax, run!" Ino called after them jokingly.

"Are they being serious, Naruto?" Dax asked quietly after they were out of earshot and nearly back to the house.

As he began answering, she was distracted by an odd form flying high in the sky; it appeared to be a demon of some sort, with a pair of wings that almost seemed like distorted hands. She shook her head to clear her vision, and the thing was gone. She shrugged, and focused back on what Naruto was saying.

"...they only act like that now cause they expect me to spring back into trickster mode at any second," he finished his story, and Dax blushed in embarrassment.

"It sounds like a fun life," she said quickly to cover up that she hadn't been listening at all.

"Oh it was, sorta," Naruto smiled sadly. "Some days were fun, some were pretty miserable, as I'm sure you can imagine."

Dax nodded; she really could imagine, what with the majority of her life being like that. She wished she could remember what her life had been like before Shiro adopted her, what her parents had been like, who they even were. The only thing she really remembered was that they were exceptionally... normal.

They quickly arrived back at Kakashi's house, and Naruto left her in her room while he went to talk to Tsunade about something. She walked aimlessly around the medium-sized room, and stopped in front of the window; the floor there felt almost hollow... She stamped her foot lightly. It _was _hollow! She picked at the edges of the small wooden tiles to see if they pried up; an entire large square of tiles lifted out of the floor, and she peered down into the darkness. The light from her room showed enough of the hollow for her to see that it went a few feet under the house, and that it seemed expansive. She placed the square back carefully, deciding to explore the tunnels later.

She glanced at the green frog wallet Naruto had left with her, telling her that if she needed anything there was money in it and a small scroll that she only needed to place a drop of her blood on and he would be there instantaneously. He placed heavy emphasis on the scroll being for emergencies only.

'Duh...,' she thought as she crept out of the house and onto the packed-dirt street. A lot of the villagers were now indoors, with it being nearing sunset. The few that were still wandering around paid her no mind, except for a couple that gave her unsure looks.

She ignored them as she walked down the road; there were plenty of shops, although there weren't any she wanted anything from. She got a few blocks from the house before she shrugged and went back; she wasn't into touring the village just yet. She went back to her room and leaned back on her bed. Before she knew it she was asleep.

* * *

><p><em> "Do you want to say goodbye?" a deep voice boomed around her.<em>

_ She looked around in panic; all she saw was darkness, but she didn't feel uncomfortable._

_ "What?" she said, and noticed her voice echoed around the expanse._

_ "Do you want to say goodbye to those that you've left behind?" the voice repeated._

_ "What do you mean? Who are you? **What** are you?" she asked in a flurry._

_ The voice chuckled, and a giant glowing gray wolf with orange orbs for eyes appeared in front of her. She shrieked, and backed away a few steps._

_ "You will know more later, child, but for now be satisfied just to know that I am the form your Chakra takes," the wolf said._

_ "So... you're the reason I'm here now?" Dax said, uncertainty still strong in her voice._

_ "I am," the wolf affirmed. "But not for no reason. You were in danger, and you will have a better life surrounded by appropriate people."_

_ "But... I had Ryo. I was happy just with that!" Dax cried._

_ "But you weren't happy, young one. You were growing more and more miserable as the days went by. I didn't appreciate the way you were treated and the way your life was passing you by," the wolf growled gently. "So I brought us here, where we would be safe and could protect ourselves efficiently."_

_ Dax thought silently for a few minutes, and the wolf watched her patiently. _

_ "Kakashi said... that I had a large amount of Chakra stores," she finally spoke again. "Is that true? And what does it mean for me... us?"_

_ "It is true. And it means that we are very powerful, or at least we will be. We will be capable of things no one else is," the wolf said enigmatically. "Again, cub, I ask you: do you want to say goodbye?"_

_ "How?" Dax asked._

_ "I can send you to their dreams. But only for a short while. And if they are close enough to your heart, they will know in the depths of their souls that what they see and hear isn't a dream at all," the wolf explained sagely._

_ "Yes," Dax nodded._

_ "Who?" the wolf asked unnecessarily._

_ "Ryo; only Ryo," Dax said, determined._

_ "Fine," the wolf said, and howled soundlessly. _

_ Dax felt herself being lifted, and then she found herself surrounded by a light purple. Her stomach sank when she noticed Ryo standing with his back to her a few feet away, his black hair a mess from sleep._

_ "Ryo," she called. He turned sharply at the sound of her voice, his blue eyes startled._

_ "Dax?" he said, shocked. "Where are you? I've been looking, searching for you... But I can't find you anywhere."_

_ "You won't find me. No one there will," Dax said sadly._

_ "You're not...," Ryo trailed off._

_ "No! No, Ryo, I'm alive. Just... far, far away," she said hurriedly. "I'm finally safe where I am."_

_ "You could've been safe with me...," Ryo said, his voice laden with depression._

_ "No, Ryo, I couldn't have been. I could've been labeled as a runaway and your family would've gotten into heavy trouble because I was with you," Dax interceded. "I'm not coming back, ever. I'm only here... to say goodbye."_

_ "I don't even get a choice?" Ryo sobbed._

_ "I'm sorry, Ryo...," Dax sighed. "But, no. No one has a choice here but what brought me here."_

_ "What is it that brought you where you were? My father's checked every nook and cranny with the neighborhood watch in the 10 mile radius around us," Ryo said with disbelief._

_ "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. I don't have long, Ryo," Dax said guiltily._

_ "Try me," Ryo said desperately._

_ "I was brought by my Chakra, my life force," Dax attempted to explain. "I was in danger. I'm somewhere that not a single being but the people here can find me."_

_ "But... I still want you here, Dax. I don't care what's going on, I want you here, with me," Ryo said miserably._

_ "I'm sorry Ryo, but I'm staying. I can't go back, ever. Do me a favor, by the way... my iPhone is still on that table, if you haven't gotten it already. Get it, and don't let anyone else touch it," Dax said, and gasped as she started feeling light. "I have to leave now, Ryo. Goodbye."_

_ She felt an immense amount of sadness as she left the dream realm, and again saw the great wolf sitting before her._

_ "I'm sorry, cub. It's for the best," the wolf rumbled. Dax looked at the ground._

_ "I'll be fine someday. As soon as this nightmare is over," Dax laughed dryly. "What is your name anyways?"_

_ "That, Dax, is the right question," the wolf said mysteriously as Dax felt someone shaking her. _

* * *

><p>Woo! Chapter 2 :D To be honest, I really don't care that I didn't get enough reviews on the first chapter. I like writing this too much! Ahaha<p>

Seriously though! Read and review guys! Reviews fuel my endless all-nighters. :U


	3. Chapter 3

Yes, guys... I'm slow and inattentive. I'm sorry. ;_;

Itachi: There is no excuse for her. I apologize on behalf of her ditziness, which is rather deplorable, even in comparison to Naruto.

...STFU!

Itachi: I stand by what I've said. =/_\=

Grrr.. Whatever. Continuing on.

Disclaimer: ...You know, I could claim to own everything, the world and everyone in it. I own the text on this page, that's about it. I'm not even gonna bother. DX

* * *

><p>It had been a week since Dax woke up, met everyone, and completed her move into Kakashi's house. She still didn't have any sort of daily routine, and she hadn't come any closer to figuring out who, or what, the creature from her dream was. She didn't completely believe that it was her chakra speaking to her, although a voice in the back of her head was telling her she didn't have a choice in her belief; she would have to come to terms with it sooner or later.<p>

In the meantime, Kakashi, Naruto and a few of the Konoha nin had thought it necessary to get her 'welcome home' gifts, mostly consisting of clothes (from the girls), ninja tools (from Kiba, Neji and Kakashi), and a massive art set (from Naruto and someone called Sai, who both felt a creative outlet was a necessity for her). She looked in awe at the coloured inks, scrolls, brushes and charcoals. They were definitely different than the simple pencils and paints she was accustomed to, but hopefully she'd get used to them quickly enough. As it was she was currently sitting on the couch in Kakashi's living room, sketching out a picture. She hurriedly closed the book, careful to avoid smudging the fresh charcoal, when Naruto came charging in.

"Dax-chan!~" he lilted, hopping over the back of the couch and onto the seat next to her. "Are you drawing? I wanna see!"

"Not yet, Naruto...," Dax blushed. "They're not ready."

"But you'll show me when they're done, right?" Naruto urged.

"Of course, Naruto..," she murmured in response. She put away the scroll holding all the supplies with a jutsu in the ninja tool bag at her thigh that Neji had given her. "Am I finally going to start training today? I'm going stir crazy just sitting here all day."

"Kakashi-sensei said you could start later," Naruto smiled. "For now, go get dressed. We're going to get normal food!"

"In other words, fresh home-cooked ramen," Dax laughed at Naruto's excitement; he certainly ate more than just ramen, but ramen was the food she had connected him to most.

"Actually, we're gonna go somewhere else!" Naruto cheered, a smug look on his face at surprising her.

"Oh? Okay. What should I be expecting?" Dax asked, pausing momentarily.

"You'll see," Naruto said simply, and pushed her towards her room.

She walked up the stairs, changed her shirt, and was halfway through pulling on a pair of black pants when she felt eyes on her. She spun swiftly to the window and was confused when she only saw a large black crow, or maybe a raven? She walked over and opened the window; the glossy bird wasn't shy around humans, she observed, but she was still lost; hadn't Naruto told her these birds only lived in the woods on the outskirts of the Land of Fire? She shook the thought away, more concerned for the raven giving her an unusually intelligent look.

"You seem to be far away from home, _kuro_," she said, stroking the bird's head. It narrowed its eyes, whether in annoyance or acknowledgment she wasn't sure. "You can stay here, if you aren't opposed."

'_I'm talking to a bird..._,' Dax thought with a sigh. She was shocked that the bird seemed to understand her, and hopped onto the inside of the window sill, following her apparently. She closed the window behind the bird, and slipped on the pair of pants she pulled out, before walking back downstairs to Naruto.

"Dax?" he pointed. "There's a crow following you."

The bird gave him an unimpressed look, its eyes seeming to flash red momentarily.

"It's a raven, Naruto. And I know, it was sitting outside my window when I went upstairs," Dax explained, gesturing towards it for it to perch on her arm, which it did.

"Well he seems to like you," Naruto chuckled. "Are you gonna name him?"

"Uh, I actually hadn't thought about it... should I?" Dax asked, giving the raven a curious look.

"I think so. He doesn't look like he wants to go anywhere at the moment," Naruto observed.

"I guess. Hm," Dax paused to ponder a name. She thought through the mental lists of names she knew, and two stood out. "How about Bran?"

If the raven could have gagged, she was sure he would have. The look he gave her was malicious, so she quickly gave up that name.

"Wolfram?"

The raven narrowed his eyes at her as it had earlier, and she had the feeling it was trying to pry into her head.

"I don't think it likes either of those, Dax," Naruto pointed out. Dax gave him a withering look. "Hey, I was just saying.. Hey! You know who he sort of reminds me of?"

"Someone else I haven't met?" Dax asked rhetorically. Naruto gave her a guilty look and nodded. "Who?"

"Sasuke's brother, Itachi," Naruto said, becoming somber at the mention of the human raven.

Dax was silent a moment before saying "Weasel?" innocently.

Naruto erupted into loud laughter, and the raven nipped at her ear.

"Ow! Hey, what the hell!" Dax cried, holding her ear, giving the raven an alarmed look. It was, once again, narrowing its eyes at her.

"What?" Naruto asked, looking at the bird.

"He bit me!" Dax pouted.

Naruto chuckled, gave the bird an odd look, and led them outside.

"...That's it, I'm calling the evil bastard Weasel, and that's that," Dax said.

The entire village probably heard Naruto's guffaws, and Dax's scream of pain.

* * *

><p>"Dax, what happened to your forehead?" Kiba asked as her and Naruto walked up to a large tan building; Naruto said it was a restaurant, but still refused to say what kind. There was a red mark in the center of Dax's head.<p>

"She-" Naruto started.

"DUDE! Dax! There is a RAVEN on your SHOULDER!" Kiba cried out suddenly, jabbing a finger in Weasel's direction.

Dax smacked herself in the forehead, and then Kiba understood the red mark.

"I'm like the millionth person to point that out, aren't I?" he said sheepishly.

"Thanks, Mr. Points Out the Obvious," Dax grumbled as Naruto led them inside. The lights were out, immediately making Dax suspicious. She leered around, making sure there wasn't anyone hiding. She screeched when a pair of hands covered her eyes.

"It's just me," Naruto whispered into her ear from behind her.

"Coulda warned me," Dax hissed.

"Sorry," Naruto murmured, and guided her over to a random booth in the back of the dim restaurant.

He pushed her into a seat, forcing a surprised squeak out of her, and uncovered her eyes. She gasped; there was a large cake in front of her.

"What...," she tried, but ran out of words.

"Tsunade baa-chan did some digging," Naruto started.

"In other words, she read your chakra, like a stalker," Kiba cut in, and got backhanded by Naruto.

"And discovered that your birthday was today," Naruto finished. "October 1st."

He smiled, and wordlessly lit the 19 candles on the cake. Dax's eyes glowed in the candlelight, the red specks lighting up eerily.

"Make a wish, Dax," Naruto said, nudging her side with his elbow. Dax noticed the other people she'd met a few days prior, and recognized Kakashi in the small crowd. She also saw a few village people giving the group scornful looks, as though they were giving a large jungle cat a feast at a table.

"I don't have anything left to wish for, to be honest," Dax said. "You make the wish, I'll blow out the candles, Naruto."

"Deal," Naruto laughed. They blew out the candles, and Kiba began cutting into the cake, which turned out to be strawberry.

"Naruto...," Dax sighed.

"What's wrong?" Naruto said, cocking his head.

"You guys hardly know me, yet you all already treat me like part of a family or something," Dax shook her head. "I just don't get it is all."

"This is how friends are supposed to treat each other Dax," Naruto lifted her up bridal style. "And don't you forget it either."

"Okay, I won't, if you put me down," Dax groaned, earning a collective laugh from everyone. Even Sai, who Dax noticed hadn't said much of anything, was chuckling quietly.

"You look tired," Naruto said.

"I kind of am. I'm not used to actually interacting with humanity," Dax said honestly.

"Well you'd better get used to it soon, cause you'll be doing a lot of it," Kiba grunted, and mussed up her hair. Dax growled at him, Weasel cawing from her shoulder.

"Laughing at my misery again, Weasel?" Dax muttered, getting clipped by the bird's beak again.

"You named him Weasel?" Sai asked in confusion.

"Long story," Naruto said quickly as his face fell.

"In other words, yes, I named him Weasel," Dax said as she rubbed the spot on her shoulder Weasel had snapped at. "And he's abusive."

Sai didn't laugh, instead watching the raven with a dark look that rivaled the bird's shaded eyes. He moved his gaze to Dax, who was laughing with Naruto at something ridiculous Kiba was saying. The rest of their small group had broken up into pairs and were talking, pretty much how it normally turned out when they were all together. Despite how happy and relaxed everyone else was, Sai couldn't help the chill that ran down his spine; something didn't seem right about the newcomer's animal...

* * *

><p>Naruto didn't take Dax home until late into the night; she was amazed Kakashi hadn't become upset with their lateness, as he had left the party hours before. But then again, she didn't exactly know first-hand if he was supposed to get upset at something like that...<p>

After she was in bed and Naruto had finally left, Dax thought back on the dream she had about the great glowing wolf; she hadn't seen it since then, and had a feeling it was connected to how much chakra she depleted. She had decided a few days ago that she'd drain as much as she could to communicate with it again and get some answers. No one had noticed her fasting, of course, or at least she didn't think they had. She had told everyone earlier that she didn't like sweet things (an outright lie) to escape eating the cake; she had learned from Kakashi and Tsunade that sugar helped boost chakra faster, though with less stability.

She awoke the next day with great disappointment; she dreamed of nothing, and it frustrated her. The raven (whom she was determined to rename so as to avoid anymore attacks) watched her boredly as she paced at the foot of her bed. Naruto was due any moment, and she was trying to look as alert and strong as possible. She wasn't sure what he'd do to her if he found out about her insanity.

Or stupidity.

Probably both.

She shrugged at the mental loop, sure she was getting a bewildered look from the sleek bird sitting on her bed.

Naruto barged in moments later without a single knock, telling Dax that he was going to show her some of his favorite places. Dax underestimated how weak she really felt; the more Naruto eyed her, the more she felt she was swaying on the spot.

"Dax?" Naruto asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Dax gazed unblinkingly into his cerulean eyes, and felt a roaring somewhere in her mind before she collapsed, having time to hear Naruto cry out her name before everything went black.

* * *

><p>"<em>You foolish human!" a booming voice hollered at Dax the moment she was trapped inside the confines of her mind.<em>

"_What!" she cried, recognizing the voice as the chakra-wolf._

"_You could have died!" it yelled, not bothering to lower the volume even though she had no troubles hearing._

"_Well what other choice did I have!"Dax said, her voice getting irritated. "It was the only way to get in contact with you!"_

"_Dax, you idiot cub, I AM YOU! All you had to do was call out to me in your mind, and I would have heard!"_

"_I don't even know your name! What was I supposed to call!"_

"_You're supposed to learn this on your own!"_

_Dax huffed, ending the pointless argument._

"_Are you allowed to tell me your name, then?" she asked the wolf, who had materialized in front of her, its massive head facing her._

"_Yes," it said simply, not saying anything further._

"_Are you going to tell me?" Dax said impatiently._

"_I will when you ask, yes," the wolf chuckled lowly._

"_What is your name?" Dax said after gaping at the wolf's smart remark._

_The wolf grinned, and she noticed its lack of a tail._

"_I am called Inugami.*"_

"_...Inugami? Isn't that a demon?"_

"_That's what you humans call me. You can too if you wish, it makes no difference to me, so long as I can continue to protect you without hindrance."_

"_I'm not even sure what the significance of a demon here is... so I don't think it makes much of a difference to me either."_

"_Not sure... Really," Inugami mused. "Then I have something to show you. And to warn you ahead of time, cub; the only person you may speak of me to is Naruto Uzumaki, and Gaara of the Sand."_

"_Gaara of the Sand? Who's that?"_

"_You may find out one day, now hush."_

_The air around them seemed to glow, and suddenly Dax found herself in a large, dark chamber of sorts. She could see a massive prison-like cage in front of them. She leaped into the air in shock when an immense red eye opened to glare at them._

"_Why are you in here? I do not recognize either of you two," a deep voice questioned._

_Inugami stepped forward, a sneer plastered on his animal face._

"_Kyuubi no Youko," he said simply, earning a look of surprise from the dark orange face watching them from between the bars of the cell door. "Who knew you'd be imprisoned as well one day. It seems we're all getting captured. How shameful of us."_

"_No need to be so formal, Inugami. You barely pass as one of us, you could have hid amongst the humans and avoided this," Kyuubi hissed. He shifted his heavy gaze to Dax, who suddenly felt very small with the two demons._

"_Not that it matters; everyone knows of your existence, while only my container knows of mine," Inugami laughed mirthlessly._

"_Container?" Dax asked quietly. Both sets of eyes turned back to her. "Inugami, I thought you said you were my chakra... am I just here to keep you tethered until you no longer need me?"_

"_Dax, you misunderstand. Unlike the Jinchuuriki of this time, it is not your chakra, but my own, that runs through your veins; thus, I am what your chakra represents. We cannot be separated without killing us both, as your body does not create its own chakra, and I do not have a body to speak of," Inugami explained patiently._

_Dax nodded silently. She gave the demon fox an odd look._

"_Wait, so you're Kyuubi? Does that mean we're inside Naruto?" she asked, looking around with a queer look on her face._

"_Technically we're only inside the portion of his mind that holds the seal that traps Kyuubi," Inugami said._

"_Don't you hate being trapped?"Dax asked innocently._

"_Sometimes, kit, being trapped is better than being stuck outside. Think of it as a safe haven. I've come to see Naruto as my own, demon or not, and I wouldn't settle to be anywhere else. Even if there weren't a seal here holding me in, I doubt I'd even bother trying to go anywhere anyways. Not that I have anything out there regardless," Kyuubi growled, the last part meant to be to himself._

"_What do you mean?" Dax asked, her eyes wide with curiosity._

"_Never you mind, youngling," the fox rumbled. "Just know that when you choose to live for one thing and one thing only, it becomes much easier for someone to target and blackmail you. Life loses its luster when you have nothing to live for."_

_With that said, Dax felt herself being propelled out of the chamber and back into her own head._

"_Inugami? Why aren't you in a cage like that?"_

"_Because, cub, there isn't a seal holding me in here, and therefore I'm not trapped by anything but our own limits."_

"_Okay... I think," Dax trailed off, not completely understanding, and not too sure she wanted to either._

"_Your friend is panicking. You can tell him the truth if you wish, or you can wait if it makes you more comfortable," Inugami said, his voice getting slower and more drawn out._

"_There isn't anything else he doesn't know; I might as well tell him," Dax murmured before everything disappeared in front of her._

* * *

><p>"Dax! Wake up!" Naruto was shaking her and lightly slapping her face. "What happened?"<p>

"Naru...to?" Dax said lightly as she opened her eyes, the small red spots larger than before, seeming to bleed into the rest of her eyes.

"Dax!" Naruto cried. Dax realized she was on the couch in the living room now, which was odd considering she had collapsed in her bedroom. "What happened?"

"Um...," Dax looked around the room, discomfort clear in her eyes. She noted that Weasel was perched above her head on the back of the couch, giving her an apprehensive look.

"Do you need to talk, Dax? I can go get Tsunade or Kakashi-sensei...," Naruto trailed off forlornly.

"It's fine, Naruto. It's you I need to talk to," Dax said softly, giving Naruto a careful look.

Naruto plopped down on the couch, lifting up her legs and dropping them on his lap.

"What about?" he asked, leering at Weasel.

"About Kyuubi. And my chakra," she said, and sensed slight hostility as Naruto straightened up from his relaxed position.

"What about Kyuubi?" he asked almost coldly.

"I saw him," Dax said simply.

"How...?"

"My chakra... is apparently not even my chakra, technically. My chakra is a demon called Inugami; a demon without a body, and my body doesn't produce its own chakra."

"So you're like a jinchuuriki?"

"Sure, I guess... Inugami said it was different with us though. With you and other jinchuuriki, I guess a seal holds them in place so they can't part from you. I don't have a seal like that, and I'm not completely sure how he's in my body or anything."

"What does he look like?"

"A giant glowing wolf, I guess."

"You know, I think I've heard the name Inugami somewhere. Let's go ask Kiba," Naruto jumped up, forcing Dax into a sitting position.

"No, Naruto... I don't want anyone else knowing. Most of the village already hates me for no reason," Dax whimpered.

"We won't tell him why, just that we heard the name somewhere," Naruto lamented. "The only thing I remember about it is that it's a demon dog."

"I guess... can we just be careful though...?"

"Of course! But before we go, how did you see Kyuubi?"

"Um... Inugami pulled me into your mind with the seal hiding in it," Dax said nervously.

"Oh. So you've seen the great beast in his cage then?" Naruto chuckled. "He's not always in there, but he can't come out too often; his chakra kills my body every time I use it."

"How?"

"Well, his chakra is demon chakra; demon chakra isn't meant to be compatible with a human body, and my body breaks down a tiny bit every time I activate the demon chakra," Naruto explained, his face grim.

"There's gotta be a way to make it so that your body doesn't break down. Make your body more demon or something," Dax thought aloud, not noticing the dark look on Naruto's face. "I mean, I'm compatible with my chakra, but then again, I think I was born with it, so I've had time to adjust. I don't know any different."

"I don't know Dax... I don't want to give these bigoted idiots any more reason to resent me for anything I haven't done."

"We'll figure something out, Naruto. Don't wanna have my only friend dying on me, you know."

"Only friend?" Naruto raised a brow. "What about everyone else?"

"You're the only one I really know, and therefore the only one I really trust," Dax said with a small shrug.

"Good enough," Naruto said. "Let's go! Off to Kiba's house!"

They meandered over to a small set of houses that belonged to the Inuzuka family, and Naruto rapped on the door of the biggest one. Dax supposed that Kiba belonged to the main family, and followed Naruto in when Kiba opened the door, a large white dog at his side.

"Calm down, Akamaru; it's just Naruto," Kiba laughed when the dog grew excited.

"He knows when he senses other dogs," Naruto joked. Dax froze in fear, but then realized that Naruto probably meant Kyuubi.

"Foxes aren't dogs, Naruto. They're their own species, known as Vulpes," Dax rattled off, surprising both Naruto and Kiba.

"Never mind then. I guess he just likes me," Naruto laughed, and Dax was relieved that he wasn't angry or irritated or anything.

"So what did you guys need? You said something about having a question on dog history, Naruto," Kiba asked as he led them to a set of large red couches in his living room. There was a large TV there that was currently turned off.

"Yeah... we heard a name somewhere, and were wondering if you or your family would know anything about it," Naruto said.

"What is it?" Kiba asked, leaning forward excitedly now.

"Inugami," Naruto said, and was taken aback when Kiba's face paled and his eyes widened. "Kiba? What is it?"

"Naruto... since you got left out of a lot of stuff through the last few years ago, you missed a bunch of our history lessons, especially since you don't really have any family to teach you any specifics," Kiba started. "The Inugami was one of the bloodier secrets of Konoha; simply known as the Tailless Demon Hound of Death."

* * *

><p>Cliffhanger... err, well, sorta. -shrugs-<p>

* - Inugami, if anyone didn't know already, is a Japanese demon dog, also thought to be a shikigami, or a type of familial spirit.


	4. Chapter 4

Yes, my wonderful readers, another update on Twisted, and so soon too~ I am proud of this story, and my brain is overflowing. (Too bad it won't do that with The Underground... =_=")

Naruto: Am I allowed to speak now?

Seeing as this is your story, I guess it's allowed. _

Naruto: Good.

…

Naruto: I have nothing to say.

-facepalm-

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Since Kishimoto won't let me have Itachi. ;_;

* * *

><p>Dax had immediately grown tense after Kiba's proclamation. It was, however, covered up by Naruto, who gestured for the dog-lover to continue on.<p>

"Inugami is rooted back to our village's ancestors; it's said that it's a bodiless demon that inhabits people, traveling into an unborn child from its mother or father. It replaced their chakra, making them into demons themselves," Kiba explained, as if he was reciting from an old fable.

"So they were like Jinchuuriki themselves then?" Naruto couldn't help but ask; Dax hadn't had a very good answer to that, so maybe Kiba did.

"Not quite. You and Gaara are bound to the Tailed Beasts by seals and jutsu and chakra; the Inugami and its host are fully dependent on each other; its host cannot produce its own chakra, and needs the Inugami's, while the Inugami doesn't have its own body, and has no way of getting one. The host cannot have any sort of chakra transplant, cause their body and the Inugami would reject it; the Inugami can't just transfer to another body, cause their host is the only living being, including their former host, that is compatible with them," Kiba continued, his eyes glowing. "It's like having having a Tailed Beast in your body that is devoted to you and only you. It's gotta be hard to reject that sort of power and loyalty, especially if it results in the death of the host, and temporary loss of the Inugami in this plane, until the birth of another compatible host."

"Wow," Naruto said, awed. "How do we know all this?"

"Well apparently a bloodline in Konoha housed the Inugami. That's why its history is only here; no other village knows any real detail of it; only that it can 'possess' a person's body. It's like the Hyuuga bloodline ability, my family's ninja dog's, that sort of thing," Kiba trailed off momentarily, distracted. "But anyways! The family was said to have disappeared nearly 19 years ago, and no type of tracers could find them. According to my father, the wife was the latest host of the Inugami, and fled with her husband and infant daughter. No one's seen or heard from them, and they're assumed dead."

"Is it strictly within that family though?" Naruto asked, eyes alight with curiosity.

"Well anyone who's been a host can trace their history back to a common ancestor. No one knows but the family themselves who it actually is, but since no one's left, there's no one to ask," Kiba finished, running a hand through his already-messy hair. Dax gulped; she didn't know any of this, and she assumed it was her family that fled Konoha, though she couldn't remember any of it.

"Wait... You said nearly 19 years, Kiba?" Dax asked, looking at Naruto.

"Yeah, why?" he asked with a yawn.

"How old are you guys now?"

"We're all pretty much nearing 19," Kiba gasped, realization dawning on him.

"What am I missing?" Naruto asked, his nose wrinkled.

"What else happened around 19 years ago, Naruto?" Dax asked, giving him a wide-eyed look.

"I was born?" Naruto said, laughing sheepishly.

"And Kyuubi was inserted into you, Naruto!" Dax cried. "What if the family for some reason got a warning from the dog-demon thing that something bad was gonna happen and fled?"

"Is it even possible?" Naruto asked Kiba, who was now giving Dax a dark suspicious look. Suddenly, Akamaru paced in from the next room, and gave her a similar look, the fur on his neck raised.

Dax stared fearfully at the large white beast. Akamaru decidedly didn't like her, and growled lowly. Kiba stood, pushed Akamaru behind him, and said, "Who exactly are you, Dax?"

Dax faltered; she barely knew herself, and Naruto just as much as she did. He patted her on the shoulder and muttered, "We can trust Kiba, Dax. If there's one thing he's good for, it's loyalty."

"What's going on, Naruto?" Kiba all but hissed. Akamaru gave a soft bark behind him.

"You know the family that disappeared?" Naruto said.

"Yes, Naruto. Don't change the subject," Kiba growled.

"Dax is around our age, if not just a few months older."

"Oh yeah? Her and a few other million people, Naruto?" Kiba said, confused, and getting irritated.

"She-," Naruto started, but Dax cut him off.

"I was orphaned when I was around eight, both me and my younger brother," she started.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kiba asked, his temper growing.

"We didn't have any other family, hadn't met a single other relative. Every other person was repelled by me, every person that walked into the orphanage. Not a single person was willing to adopt me, and I never knew why," Dax continued, ignoring his outburst. "Someone finally adopted us after a few years, but the entire time, I had strange dreams, of a great wolf watching me from far away. I never understood it completely until earlier, or a few days ago, I'm not sure which yet."

"A great wolf?" Kiba asked, won over.

"A giant, blue glowing wolf. He said he embodied my chakra, that we were in danger, and so he brought us here, and then I woke up," Dax nodded. "Then no matter what I did I couldn't contact it again. Shamefully I starved myself until I fell unconscious, from a stupid line of thought that if he came when we were in danger before, then he would come again."

Kiba gaped at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, he did. After yelling at me about how much of a stupid human I was...," Dax chuckled at the look on Kiba's face. "He told me that if I needed to talk to him so bad, I could've just called his name."

"And that was?" Kiba asked, completely enthralled and leaning forward. Akamaru whined behind him.

"His name is Inugami," Dax said, and said quickly before Kiba freaked out, "His exact words were 'I am called Inugami, or at least that is what you humans call me'."

Kiba continued to stare at her in disbelief. Then he started shaking his head, letting out a small laugh.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he said, and Dax's heart sank. "You guys honestly think I'm going to believe you?"

"Ask Akamaru," Naruto challenged, the whiskers on his cheeks becoming more defined as he got upset.

Akamaru whined as if in response to the unspoken question, giving Dax a pitying look.

All of a sudden, Dax felt as though she was falling backwards; when she didn't, she tried to look around, but found that she had no control over her body.

"You doubt me, human?" she felt her mouth asking in a voice not her own.

"Dax, cut it out," Kiba snapped. Akamaru whined again, and lied down on his stomach, his head completely down on the floor. "Akamaru?"

"See, animals are so much smarter than you humans; they always know when to trust their instincts and when to man up," the voice said. 'Dax' knelt down and scratched Akamaru's head. Kiba was shocked when the white dog showed no resistance.

He turned his head away from the dog to glare at her, but was stunned into silence. The normally shy and timid hazel eyes were now cold and hard, and spotted with red fragments like shards of bloodied glass, and completely lacking in the snow-white that a human eye normally consisted of. He shuddered; there was definitely something unnatural about those eyes... and he couldn't deny it anymore.

"What do you want me to do, Inu-sama?" Kiba asked, keeping his face lowered submissively.

"All I ask is that you believe in her, and help her. She's been through too much, especially for one who is my host. She will not remember this segment of the discussion, nor will you bring it up to her until the time is necessary. For now, keep it to yourself. That includes you, Fox-boy," the growling voice instructed, leaving no room for arguments.

"What do you mean? Kiba, what's going on?" Naruto asked, looking back and forth between Inugami and Kiba.

"Naruto, I know about the Inugami because only my family and the hokage of past and present know about it; my family used to exist side-by-side with the host family, and serve as the guardians of the Inugami host. For the longest time, my ancestors worshipped the very ground it and its host walked on," Kiba explained, avoiding the crimson flecked eyes.

"It sure does explain your protective tendencies, Kiba. No offense," Naruto laughed. Kiba sighed.

"Nothing else, for now, Inu-sama?" he asked with a frown.

"No. Your family has served well, it's time you received a break, even if your parents didn't have to deal with the burden of protecting my host and me for a while. Don't forget your duties though; you must inform them of my rise and return. The hokage will know nothing for now," Inugami said, and quickly added at Kiba opening his mouth to argue, "That is another order, Inuzuka-kun. The hokage will remain in the dark, whether you like it or not."

Kiba's hands and ankles seemed to glow a deep crimson momentarily, and he grunted in discomfort.

"What just happened?" Naruto asked in shock.

"An order was given to him that he can't disobey," Inugami said with an evil grin. "And if he tries, his chakra will begin eating at his organs until it is corrected."

Naruto gasped, giving the girl a horrified look.

"Don't worry, I won't disobey," Kiba gritted. "I understand what's at stake here."

"Good," Inugami smiled more softly this time. "I'm going to give control back to Dax. And remember what I said." He gave both of them a warning look before the red shards receded back into small spots.

Dax blinked at them in confusion.

"What just happened?" she asked, shaking her head.

"You spaced on us for a second," Kiba laughed. "I'll talk to you more about Inugami later, okay Dax? For now, just let me know if anything happens. I'll try to find out more from my parents; they were around at the same time he was, maybe they'll know more."

"Good point...," Dax murmured, and was escorted out by a tense Naruto.

He told her that she'd start training with Kakashi in a half hour, and dragged her to the bridge that team seven used to meet at, a long time ago. He smiled somberly at the small rushing stream as he remembered yelling at Kakashi's excuses for being late.

Then he sighed in annoyance when he realized Kakashi was still at it.

The gray haired teacher marched up to them, scratching the back of his head in amusement at Naruto's outraged look.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto yelled, jabbing a finger accusingly.

"I know, I know...," Kakashi chuckled.

"Get distracted by a passing dolphin, Kakashi?" Dax asked, raising a brow. She'd gotten used to her newly appointed guardian's outrageous excuses when he was late, and this was his most common.

"Actually, it was a whale this time, Dax, but thanks anyways," Kakashi said seriously, causing her to crack up.

"You're unbelievable," she muttered, and followed them back to a small clearing.

"This is where they did most of their first training, as well as their first test," Kakashi said, seemingly embarrassed at the single team to pass. "I assume Naruto gave you the scrolls about chakra and how to channel it?"

"Yeah," Dax nodded. She was good at learning, mostly from books. Even if she didn't know exactly what the impact of what she was doing was, she could do it.

"I want you to climb a tree then," Kakashi said dramatically, "without your hands."

"Uhh... Kakashi-sensei..," Dax said. Kakashi, sensing her pending argument, walked over to the nearest tree and walked up the side, stopping upside down on a high branch.

"I assure you, it's possible," he laughed at her expression.

"Dax, it's like a bucket with a hole at the bottom and a faucet filling it; you have to keep the bucket at the exact same level, without making it overflow or losing water at the bottom," Naruto explained, using an analogy even he could understand. "You have to focus the right amount of chakra in your feet, and it'll make you stick to the surface, kind of like a gecko."

"Okay... I think I got it," Dax said, her voice strained. "It's a constant amount... I think."

"I'll be over here," Kakashi said, walking to the other side of the clearing with an orange book.

"You're gonna read?" Dax said, crestfallen.

"It's how he concentrates," Naruto assured her, and pushed her towards a tree gently.

She stepped up to the mighty oak tentatively, wondering what would happen if she had too much or too little chakra focused. Shaking all the distracting thoughts out of her head, she placed one foot around knee-high on the tree, then the other...

...and was promptly exploded across the clearing, crashing into a tree next to Kakashi.

He looked at her, his eyes bewildered.

"Too much chakra, Dax," he said simply, returning to his book.

She glared at him, fuming, and marched back to the now-scarred tree...

...and got blown back again, only now not as far.

Kakashi and Naruto both sighed.

"This could take a while," Naruto said, Kakashi humming in agreement.

* * *

><p><em>Three days and six training sessions later...<em>

* * *

><p>"FINALLY!" Dax shouted as she hung from the branch Kakashi had made it to. "Is this good, Kakashi-sensei?"<p>

"Very good, Dax; you've already accomplished more than the students have in the last few days, so I think it's safe to say you are now a certified Konoha genin," Kakashi smiled softly underneath his mask, "Congratulations."

"But... isn't it a bit soon...?" Dax asked, uncomfortable under the jounin's gaze. "I've only been doing real training for just under four days..."

"You have a high learning capacity. A few of the more formal ninja families here in Konoha are usually like this, which makes me wonder about your heritage," Kakashi said. "It's comparable to even Itachi Uchiha, and he was thought to be a child prodigy, although you are of a considerable amount older."

"You think?" Dax said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

"No need for sarcasm, Dax," Kakashi ruffled her hair. "Go ahead and go home, I'll bring your headband later."

"Okay," Dax said, walking away. "Bring dinner too, Naruto invited Choji over yesterday."

Kakashi groaned quietly; Naruto had taken to bringing every friend he had to help Dax adapt to the village. The only person that was there just as much as, if not more than, Naruto was Kiba, and he never seemed to leave until he absolutely had to. A few days prior he had gone on a mission, and was due back tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Dax hurried back to the house she shared with Kakashi; she was planning on exploring the tunnels underneath Konoha, with her raven's help. She still hadn't come up with a real name for him, though she'd taken to calling him Kuro to get his attention, which usually worked.<p>

'_And this one doesn't get me injured by a beak_,' she thought.

She rushed upstairs, noting absentmindedly that Naruto wasn't there for once, shut her door, and pulled up the tile. She peered down into the darkness.

"It's kind of a long drop," she thought aloud, figuring it was around seven or eight feet. Kuro cawed behind her, startling her, and unfolded his wings.

She cried out in shock when the raven lifted her with his claws and slowly dropped into the tunnel.

"Thanks, I guess," she said quietly. "A warning would have been nice though."

She gave the bird a glare, and looked around the chamber she landed in; it was mostly just a tunnel, carved right into the bedrock. She walked a little ways and came to a three-way fork.

"Do you think this goes through the whole village?" she asked her feathered companion, who gave her a withering look. "No need to give me that look, you evil bird."

She watched him for a few minutes, contemplating ninja animals; Kiba could interact with Akamaru with body language, and Kakashi used his chakra to understand Pakkun. She raised a chakra-drenched hand to Kuro's head.

All of sudden, pain like white-hot lightning coursed through her veins, and she saw a vision full of blood red eyes. She fell back, screaming, and opened her own eyes; wide with fear, the red shards were also enlarged, and tears of blood were running down her cheeks. She gave the shocked bird a terrified look, wiped her face, and backed away.

"What... what are you?" she asked, not expecting an answer. The raven squawked once at her, and flew away into the tunnels. "Fine, leave you feathered burden! Freak me out why don't you..."

She took a deep breath, and looked up at the hole in the ceiling that led back to her bedroom.

"_Fuck!_," she swore loudly as she realized she had no way back up.

"Uh, Dax?" she heard Naruto ask from her room. "I hear you, but where the hell are you?"

"Down here," she called. She saw Naruto peek down curiously.

"When did this get here?" he asked, looking around her.

"Longer than either of us can remember apparently, now can you help me out of here?" Dax pleaded.

"Oh, right, sorry," Naruto threw down the end of a rope, pulled from his pack. Dax grabbed on, and he pulled her up into her room effortlessly. "How'd you even get down there in the first place?"

"Kuro helped me, then took off somewhere," Dax growled, ready to strangle the black feathered fiend. "Don't tell Kakashi-sensei."

"Sounds like a catastrophe," Naruto said, barely able to contain his laughter.

"I will kill you Naruto," Dax threatened halfheartedly, causing him to laugh even harder.

"It's not funny!" Dax cried.

"It totally is, Dax. You got stranded by a bird," Naruto said between breaths.

"Not funny...," Dax murmured, crossing her arms with a huff.

"Sorry, but...," Naruto said. "It's _hilarious_!"

* * *

><p><em>This chapter needs more transitionnnnn~s! (not really)<em>

* * *

><p>Dax woke with a start; she could sworn she heard-<p>

There it was again!

There was a light tapping at her window, and she looked to see Kuro tapping with a claw.

"Oh what do you want, you worthless...," she trailed off, looking into the bird's eyes.

The eyes that were normally a deep black, were now an unnatural crimson, an odd design in black inside it.*

Kuro cawed quietly once, noticing her eyes change again, before she fell to the floor.

The raven glowed, its form growing and lengthening; the light died down to reveal a man with long black hair, eyes like the bird's, in a cloak matching Dax's blanket.**

"Found you," he murmured, scooping up Dax and disappearing in a flurry of black feathers.

* * *

><p>* - the Sharingan. I fail at describing it, so there's my attempt. :U<p>

** - the Akatsuki cloak, in case no one remembers.

On another note, cliffhanger! I'm trying not to end so many chapters of my stories with them, but it just sort of happens on its own.

Quick scenes in this chapter, but they weren't really meant to be long, just kind of quick glances.

And I can't stop laughing picturing Dax fly across a clearing, and Kakashi being all chill about it. (It's what he'd do, though. Bahaha. XD)

Anyways, as always, R&R! :D


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